A musical global war AAR...

[Centuur]

India and Burma, with a CW task force in Bombay:

[Centuur]

China and the Japanese garrison there:

[Centuur]

Japan and the Reserve fleet in Fukuoka:

[Centuur]

We go to the USSR.

Listen to the Red army choir - We are the red cavalry

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-NfB3pMhSdo

Here is the Manchurian Front. The Japanese have gained the upper hand there. A withdrawal out of Manchuria by the USSR seems to be close by. However, the Japanese might be the first side to move! Depending on the weather, they might be tempted to try to surround Yeremenko...

[Centuur]

The Caucasian front. Every reinforcement the Soviets could deploy there, was deployed in this region. But with the Turks entering the war, will it be enough?

[Centuur]

The Ukrainian Front. It looks like things are bad here for the USSR, but this isn't the case. Sure, there is a gap in the frontlines, but the heavy losses in the Euroaxis side make things very difficult for them to exploit here. If we take a count of land units, it's 15 Axis corps and HQ's against 11 Soviet Corps and HQ's... That's not too bad...

[Centuur]

The Belorussian Front. Things are bad here for the USSR. The Axis got a 2-1 advantage in number of corps sized land units. Only a real Russian winter might stop the breakthrough:

[Centuur]

And with a look at the Karelian Front, we end the journey around the world...

[Centuur]

Next is the naval repair pool:

[Centuur]

Here are the trade agreements for this turn:

[Centuur]

And a look at the initiative roll, together with the global map, showing Allied convoys and the control of the world:

[Centuur]

The allies don't want a reroll and the Axis decide to go first this turn. Finally, the weather report.

Listen to German Swing: Erwin Hartung - Ich Tanz Mit Fräulein Dolly Swing

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jCboNSLT9wo

Winter has arrived:

[Centuur]

And again, I've run into a rather nasty bug on supply in the game. The life of a beta tester is sometimes very troublesome indeed...[&:] I can't have two Axis HQ's wrongly out of supply in Iraq and Turkey at this moment, so it's time to be patient again...

[Klydon]

Thanks for the big update on this. It is indeed a very interesting game.

The Axis have done well this game, but as you mention, issues are starting to crop up. The US carrier force is pretty much on par with or superior to whatever the Japanese have and with those big Essex class coming, it is going to get worse for them in a big hurry. The CW fleet still seems to be in reasonable shape as well to a point. The key for the Allies is are they going to make the point of emphasis Japan or Europe?

The Euro-Axis may not be able to defeat Russia out of the game, but they absolutely need to look at crippling her so she will have a very hard time trying to recover and do her job of tying down tons of Axis formations and making the push from the East. I think to a point, this will be the key for a Euro Axis win. If the Allies want, they can take out Japan, but it won't get them the win. The big thing the Axis can do is take the Caucasus region with the oil and get as many other resources as they can grab in south Russia while looking to get to defensible lines. The issue they have right now is the front is simply too close to the Axis home countries. One of the areas the Allies are still hurting on as far as I know is shipping. While they can afford to ship resources to Russia, they are hurting for a way to do it and also are strained in terms of available shipping. If Russian can be beaten down to the point they just don't have that many build points available, then it will be hard for them to do their part later on.

Looks like 1942 is off to a snowy start for the Axis, but that was to be expected after all the luck they have had weather wise so far.

Looking forward to when you can continue this one.

[Centuur]

January/february 1942, Axis impulse number 1

I''ve decided to continue this game, using the debug tools we've got as beta testers, to simulate that both Balbo and Guderian are in supply. They have to be, accordering to RAW:

Railway supply paths
A hex a railway supply path enters, by moving along a railway or
road, does not count against the 4 hex limit. A hex it enters across a
straits hexside also does not count against the limit, so long as the
hexes on either side of the straits are railway hexes.

Apparently, MWIF is now coded that the crossing of the strait at Istanbul is considered to cost an extra hex. Both Balbo and Guderian use 4 points to get to the railroad and are therefore in supply, even in Storm.

Large pro Axis demonstrations in the streets of Ankara, forces the Turkish government to join the Axis side. So here is the Turkish National Anthem:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=srWkE_Pn1dM

[Centuur]

Germany takes a land, Italy a naval and Japan a combined action.

A Japanese invasion fleet, loaded with Yamashita and Marines sails into the Bismarck sea. A carrier task force enters the Marshalls:

[Centuur]

An Italian task force enters the Arabian Sea. Another Italian task force enters the Central Atlantic and submarines sail into the Cape Verde Bassin. The objective: harass Allied shipping. Of course the Italian commanders want to initiate combat in the Sea area. First is the Cape Verde Bassin. The CW flies a Skua in the 0 box to give the precious convoys air escorts.

The Allies find the Italian submarines (rolls Allied 2, Axis 6). The Allies however, keep the submarines submerged and thus avoid combat (4 surprise points spend).

Next, the Central Atlantic. Again, the CW flies a plane into the sea area. This time the Vildebeest goes into the 0 box to fly above the convoys. Howevet, the ocean is big and both sides fail to find eachother (Allies 9, Axis 6).

Italian Music out of 1939: Renzo Mori - O bella bionda (con testo)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0r_pRhtH7Qg

Last the Arabian sea. Here, there are no CW planes to aid the convoys. However, the search rolls fail (Axis 7, Allies 4).

Japanese flying boats appear above the skies of Calcutta. The skilled Japanese pilots target the factories:

[Centuur]

Vitebst is visited by a Stuka:

[Centuur]

And Kiev too:

[Centuur]

In Manchuria, the Japanese artillery opens up again.

Therefore: Japanese music: 麦と兵隊　筑紫三郎（再編集）

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c7pB2ool-w4

This time, Yeremenko isn't lucky anymore: